Authorities will soon begin housing the Las Vegas Valley’s federal prisoners in other states because there is not enough space in the local jails, the Las Vegas Sun reports. The U.S. Marshals Service in Las Vegas is contracting with Corrections Corporation of America to move about 50 inmates to jails in San Diego and Florence, Az. Within a year the Marshals Service could be moving as many as 100 federal prisoners a day to California or Arizona, said chief deputy U.S. Marshal Fidencio Rivera. “This may have a huge impact on the federal court system,” Rivera said.
The effects will include higher costs for housing prisoners and higher costs for federal public defenders to stay in contact with clients. Prisoners will have a harder time coordinating their defense with their lawyers, and they will be farther away from their families and friends. Dan Bogden, U.S. attorney for Nevada, said that if the inmates aren’t sent somewhere, the lack of space may prompt federal magistrates to release some people while they await their trials on federal charges. There are about 480 federal inmates in Southern Nevada on any given day.
Link: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2005/oct/27/519571025.html